So we had another potluck. This time, brunch was the theme. There were a ton of cool dishes and I was happy I made this one. It was pretty simple, it just required some advanced planning. You need to let the pork belly cure overnight in wine and the spices and then, an 8 hour low cook in the slow cooker. Finally, when you’re ready to use it, you sear it up and get ready for a taste of heaven.
I went with a chardonnay which actually gave a very cool sweetness to the whole dish. The herbs played nicely but let’s be honest, there aren’t many ways for pork belly to be bad. The only downside of this recipe is that it uses a ton of oil because you actually keep the belly in oil in the fridge. It will stay for months like this (which is the purpose of making something confit) and it’s very worth it.
The original recipe can be found here which I followed exactly. Thanks for I Stuff My Face for the recipe.
Confit Pork Belly is a wonderful recipe that will leave you with tasty food for months, or for as long as you can resist eating it.
Ingredients
- 10 grams ground black pepper
- 3 grams ground cinnamon
- 1 gram ground cloves
- 1/2 gram ground allspice
- 2 bay leaves, crumbled
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 25 grams kosher salt
- 3 grams pink salt (curing salt that includes sodium nitrite)
- 3 lbs. fresh pork belly, cut into eight 6oz. portions (about 1″x2″)
- white wine (I used a gewurztraminer I had on hand)
- olive oil or rendered pork or duck fat
Instructions
- Mix the first 8 ingredients in a bowl.
- Toss the belly pieces in the bowl with the cure.
- Place all of the belly pieces in an airtight container, cover with white wine. Let sit for a day, day and a half.
- After the pork has cured, remove the pieces and wipe off any excess cure.
- Place in your slow cooker and cover completely with oil or rendered fat.
- You can set your slow cooker to low and cook for 6-8 hours. Or run it on high for 2 hours, and then low for 2 more hours.
- After the all of the total cooking time, remove the pork and rendered fat or oil to cool. Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to serve, crisp each piece in a hot pan. You shouldn’t need to add an oil to the pan.
- The remaining pieces should keep in the oil in the refrigerator for several months.
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- All the ingredients
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- Cut up pork belly
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- Toss with cure
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- Top with wine
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- Cover in fat
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- Ready to sear
